Somehow I cannot comprehend that Vladi Radmanovic sat out an entire game, Nick Collison played only 5 minutes, and Reggie Evans did not manage to see the floor on a night when the Minnesota Timberwolves made a fairly major move.
The conspiracy theorist in me has to believe that there was some conversation brewing between Seattle and Minnesota about sending Evans to the Twin Cities. Bob Hill has been meticulous in his rotations up to this point and when players miss time he inserts another player into their role. For example with Danny Fortson out he has given Danny’s 8-12 minute energy stint to either Evans or Moore. In no case does he change the rotation drastically. Last night I expected to see Evans slide into Radanovich’s slot and Moore possibly in Fortson’s. Instead Mikki Moore gets 35 minutes, the rotation becomes a jumble and Reggie doesn’t play. I’m expecting news out of this sometime soon.
A three way trade in which Reggie Evans goes to Minnesota, Flip Murray and Potapenko to Denver, and Seattle receives Marcus Banks, Voshon Leonard, and some form of draft pick compensation makes a lot of sense to me.
The Minnesota / Boston Swap
Call me crazy but I’m not sure how this deal drastically helps either team. I saw Charles Barkley on TNT last night and he said that trades are made for one of two reasons. They are either to make a team better, or just to swap salary around. I agree with Chuck that this trade was made for the second reason. I’ll add a third reason in and say that sometimes you just make change for the sake of change and hope that things will work out better.
I can envision a scenario where this deal works out pretty well for Boston in that a combo of Paul Pierce and Wally Z will really be able to spread the floor with their outside shooting. Davis, while a talented offensive player, is much more of a slasher and needed the ball in his hands to be effective. Of course they still don’t have anyone who will pass the ball or play defense so scoring is somewhat of a moot point.
Last nights game:
I’m not nearly as down on Flip Murray after last night’s game as the other posters I’m reading are. The Mavericks had a game plan to make him dribble the ball all night long. We essentially had no other options than him (although I would have preferred to see Damien Wilkens and even Ray Allen see some time at the point) and they pressed on nearly every possession. When a coach has no other options, and the opposition forces a player to do the things he’s worst at just chalk it up to injuries and a great game plan by the other squad. Avery Johnson did well and Sonics fans got a little sample of life without Luke Ridnour. This team right now is built around his presence.
What do we need?
Final thought as we approach the trade deadline is what kind of deal do we make? I question whether sacrificing any future flexibility in the name of a patch this season is worthwhile. Acquiring a player along the lines of Earl Watson probably means a few more wins, a slightly worse draft pick, and a lot less salary flexibility next year. On the flip side Watson is a great defender and I’m all for changing the basic nature of the team to be more defensive oriented.
I tend to think that the team will look to move guys like Reggie Evans and Flip Murray for players along the lines of Marcus Banks, Chris Wilcox, or other unproven youngsters with potential. See if we can’t luck out and find lightning in a bottle.
What type of players do you think we should target?